Our Engagement Story

Mal + Scout Engagement : July 18th, 2017

Scout and I met at our mutual friend's wedding shower July of 2016. I was in the kitchen prepping flowers and he offered to help me fill the vases up with water. I found out he was a mechanical engineer for a firm in Lexington and he learned that I was an artist in Louisville. He got my number by asking if I wanted to collaborate with him on a wedding gift for our mutual friends. He shared with me he enjoyed wood working and kept it as a side hobby (little did he know all the projects he would end up building for me).

Scout has been on the hot pursuit of my heart ever since the moment we met. In fact, our third date he planned a spontaneous weekend trip out to Colorado to see the Fall colors in September of 2016. He asked me to be his girlfriend at the Maroon Bells and wasted no time in being clear with his intentions for me. I awkwardly (and nervously) responded with a "can I let you know?" answer because it felt too good to be true. I slept on it, prayed about it and quickly realized "Why wouldn't I want to be Scout's girlfriend!?". I said yes the very next morning when we returned back to the Maroon Bells to watch the sunrise before heading down the mountains to catch our flight home.

Flash forward 10 months to Tuesday morning, July 18th, 2017. We had planned a week long vacation in the Aspen, Colorado with his family. Scout insisted that we wake up (5am) to drive up to the Maroon Bells to catch the sunrise. I willingly went along because I knew this breathtaking view was well worth the sleepy eyes and bed head.

As we were walked up to the view, I was too preoccupied taking pictures trying to capture this prime morning light while Scout was busy plotting out "our spot". We found a rock on the shore of Cathedral Lake, he plopped the a blanket down and I opened up a granola bar and began to enjoy my breakfast with a view. Before I knew it, Scout handed over a wrapped box. I knew it was happening. I tore through the brown paper and leather rope that he so sweetly wrapped with a tiny bouquet of wildflowers taped to the top. There was a beautifully crafted, handmade, wooden box.

I opened it up to find it full of our memories. It held tiny pieces of rolled up paper where he had typed out (with a typewriter) "remember when" moments. It also held a stack of square photos that he printed of memories of our travels we had made throughout dating. I carefully (and tearfully) read through each moment and flipped through each picture in the stack till I came to the last picture on top of small brown box. It was of a picture I had taken of our initials Scout had carved into an Aspen tree from our last time at the Maroon Bells. I opened the box to find another tiny wood ring box. It wasn't your typical ring box, it was made of walnut with a magnetic top + bottom with a mountain shape when you opened it. I remember thinking in that moment how perfect the box was that I couldn't even begin to imagine what was inside. He responded with "I'm gonna need that" by grabbing the box and got down on one knee to propose (and I remained sitting down even though my mind was telling me to stand up #frozen).

I know Scout was so relieved that I said YES immediately after he asked (no need for me to sleep on that answer). I cannot wait to continue our adventure together and to make a tradition of occasionally catching mountain sunrises at 5am. The Rocky Mountains hold milestone moments in our relationship. We both gather so much inspiration from the outdoors and often feel the most spiritual when we are out in God's creation. I have been so overwhelmed by God's perfect timing throughout our relationship and the story he has written for us. I'm eager to see it unfold as we embark on this wild adventure of planning a wedding in a little over 2 months and how he will prepare our hearts for marriage. We will be having a small intimate wedding in the mountains of Colorado on October 1st, 2017.